REGION: Cal State may reconsider Tasers following shooting

Cal State San Bernardino officials said they plan to reconsider whether their police force should be armed with Tasers after campus officers fatally shot a graduate student.

Bartholomew Williams, who had been working on a master’s degree, was shot Saturday, Dec. 8, in an off-campus apartment complex after he reportedly struggled with Cal State police officers.

About 30 people gathered at the entrance of Cal State San Bernardino on Wednesday evening for a candle-light vigil to protest Williams' shooting by campus police last weekend. They included students, civil rights activists and members of Williams' family.

His sister, Benin Lemus, 40, of Los Angeles described the family as devastated by the loss and questioned how the situation could have escalated to her brother being shot.

“It's unacceptable that people who need to be met with compassion and skilled training are instead met with deadly force,” she said.

Her brother, who was bipolar, was registered as a disabled student who received counseling and medication from the university, Lemus said.

She said the family rejected the “prejudicial” police description of him displaying “superhuman strength” and having a large stature.

Miguel Garcia, 27, a senior at Cal State San Bernardino, helped organize a group of students and community members who marched a block to the campus, holding up candles and signs protesting the shooting. He called it “scary” that a student could be shot by police and said they need to reexamine when they use lethal force.

“I just felt compelled to do something,” he said.

Eddie Jones, president of the Los Angeles Civil Rights Association, led those at the vigil in a prayer for the family and promised that his group would continue to seek answers and press for changes in how police treat the mentally ill.

“His Constitutional rights, his civil rights, his human rights were violated,” Jones said of Williams. “We want to make sure that never happens to anyone.”

Campus spokesman Sid Robinson said the police department has looked at adding Tasers to its arsenal in the past.

In 2007, the department inherited several of the weapons from Cal State San Diego’s police but were told at the time that the weapons were not reliable, Robinson said. The department had planned to use those Tasers as trade-ins to purchase newer models in 2008.

“At the time they were close to moving forward, there was a fatality because of a Taser,” Robinson said, referring to an incident not connected with the campus. “They felt the alternative tools they had, pepper spray and ASP batons, would be suitable.”

Robinson said the issue of Tasers had been discussed again since then.

“The 2008 decision has been reviewed and discussed,” he said. “As with any policy, you’re continually looking back at them. I would say we will take a look again.”